Baby Pictures
by SpacerKid
Summary: "Cameron wasn't flipping through a giant binder, not exactly. It was a photo album. More specifically, it was a photo album containing pictures of John. Even more specifically, it was a photo album containing pictures of John when he was a baby."


I found this ridiculously fluffy TSCC fanfic on my thumb drive, and decided to just post it. It's pretty ridiculous, but all in good fun. I hope you enjoy. Also, I'm still working on my Mass Effect 3 fanfic (but not that much because I have finals/AP exams/etc coming up), so don't worry. I've had to retool some ideas slightly after more details about ME3 started coming up, but, eventually, a new chapter will be added. Patience, as they say, is a virtue. (Also, I love everyone who leaves a review.)

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><p>John shot up in his bed. His mouth felt dry and he was drenched in sweat. He glanced at his alarm clock. 3 in the morning, it taunted him in bright, red numbers. John sighed. <em>Really? Did my fan seriously break again? And am I ever thirsty<em>, he thought. He shambled tiredly down the stairs and dragged his feet across the smooth hardwood floor, yawning as he went. He arrived at the fridge and opened the door wide, basking in the cool air for a moment before he grabbed the water pitcher. As the soft light from the refrigerator illuminated the room, John saw movement out of the corner of the eye. He turned around cautiously before he realized that it was only Cameron, sitting on the dining room table and flipping through what appeared to be a giant binder. Confused, he set the pitcher down and went to go see what she was doing.

"Hey Cam, what do you have…OH MY GOD WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE?" John exclaimed wildly.

Cameron wasn't flipping through a giant binder, not exactly. It was a photo album. More specifically, it was a photo album containing pictures of John. Even more specifically, it was a photo album containing pictures of John when he was a baby.

"John, you should lower your voice. You don't want to wake Sarah or Derek. And you should really close the fridge door," Cameron admonished, still studying John's baby pictures. John rolled his eyes and stepped over to the fridge and closed it. He flipped on the kitchen light.

"There, I closed the damn fridge. Where did you get those pictures? And why were you in the dark?" John whispered angrily.

"I'm a scary robot. I can see in the dark. I found the pictures lying on the table. Sarah must have left it there, along with this bottle of Scotch," Cameron explained while gesturing to the half-drunk bottle of whiskey. John rolled his eyes. Alcohol and baby pictures. Sarah's motherly love at its finest.

"Why are you looking at them?"

"Because they were here."

John groaned at the frustrating answer that only a Terminator like Cameron could provide. But now, however, John was more curious than annoyed. What was that old adage about cats and curiosity? John hadn't seen most of these pictures before, and he didn't even know that Sarah had taken any pictures at all, let alone keep an entire album's worth of them. John was surprised such an extensive photographic history of him even existed. He studied the album intensely as Cameron slowly flipped through its pages. There were pictures of a smiling Sarah Connor holding the newborn John up, pictures of Sarah giving John a bath in a river, and many, many pictures of John simply crawling around or lounging in the sun. Seeing all of this, John began to see his mom in a whole new light, as well as get a little embarrassed that his pretty cyborg guardian was even looking at them.

"Seriously Cam, why are you looking at these?" John asked.

"I believe the appropriate thing to say is 'because you were so cute as a baby'," Cameron explained, fluidly dodging the question yet again, "But I never understood why humans consider babies to be cute. Babies just appear to be soft and prone to excessive drooling."

"Thanks, Cam," John said sarcastically, "And I'm sure you were a completely adorable killer-robot baby."

"Technically, in my earliest developmental state I was a large rod of metal," Cameron answered, dead-pan as always.

"Okay, fine," John said, putting his hands in the air in mock defeat, "But are you ever going to answer my question?"

"Which one?"

"Why are you looking at my baby pictures?"

"What's Sarah doing to your diaper in this pic…"

"Okay, give me that!" John snapped, making a grab for the album. Cameron, however snatched it away before he could with her insanely quick Terminator reflexes. John tried to pry the album away from her hands, but it was to no avail. Cameron had a good grip on it, and John was a mere human.

"Fine, you can have it," John sighed in defeat. He grabbed a chair and sat next to Cameron and watched her leisurely flip through the album.

"John, what's going on in this picture?" Cameron asked, beckoning him to look.

"It looks like I'm about five, maybe, and I'm just hanging out. In my diaper. Next to a bunch of guns," John said, wondering how Sarah had managed to raise him at all.

"It looks like you're hugging that assault rifle," Cameron pointed out.

"What can I say? I had an interesting childhood."

Cameron began flipping through the album again. She eventually stopped at a page near the end of the album. On it were pictures of John from when he was ten. John's breath caught in his throat. There he was, only ten years old and targeted by Skynet once again. Memories flooded back in torrents. He could still see the T-101 being lowered into that vat of molten steel, its hand forming a thumbs-up sign before it too was lost to the extreme heat.

"John, are you okay?" Cameron asked gently, starting to close the album.

"No, of course not. I mean, look at that hairstyle. It's awful," John said flippantly, betraying none of his inner torment.

"It's not significantly different from the hairstyle you had last year," Cameron observed.

"I cut my hair, though, didn't I?"

"It looks much better John, I…is this a picture of Sarah?" Cameron asked excitedly. She had been absentmindedly been flipping through the pages of the album, and came across a page covered with pictures of Sarah Connor.

"Oh wow, some of these look like they're from the eighties," John said, admiring his mom's ridiculous hairdo.

"It is logical to assume that the T-101 sent after Sarah Connor died from laughing at her hair," Cameron said, smirking.

John started laughing; shocked that Cameron would make such a joke. Cameron simply smiled at him, glad to see him so happy. However, John's laughter was little too loud for 3:18 in the morning. The noise woke Sarah up, making her wonder what was just so damn funny so early in the morning. She rolled out of bed and prowled down the stairs. The sight that greeted her was completely unusual for the Connor household. John and Cameron were both laughing and both seemed to be looking at the photo album she had left out. _Shit, I hope they didn't get to _that _page, _she thought. But, she knew that such loud laughter could only be caused by The Hairdo.

"What are you two doing?" Sarah asked. John and Cameron's heads snapped up, looking like two kids who were caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"We're looking at pictures of you from the eighties, and John is laughing at your hair," Cameron answered with a straight face that only a cybernetic organism could muster at such a moment.

"Laughing at my hair? You should see some of the pictures of John!" Sarah teased good-naturedly.

"We already looked at those, Mom," John answered, "And c'mon, the eighties weren't the greatest decade ever."

"No kidding, John. A Terminator tried to kill me," Sarah said.

By this point, Sarah too had pulled up a chair so she could flip through the album. She and John were soon laughing at all the pictures, and realizing that once in a while, having a bit of fun could be allowed. The album also served as a reminder that they had been through a lot, and were still strong. The three were having a good time, until they woke Derek up.

"What the hell are you three doing? Do you know how early it is?" Derek yelled, his tired, bloodshot eyes making him look rather manic.

"We're, ah, looking at baby pictures," Sarah answered, clearing her throat awkwardly.

"You're up at this hour looking at _baby pictures_? Do you realize what's going to happen to the entire damn human race in a couple of years? Are you all _goddamned insane?_ I'm going back to bed," Derek said, before dragging himself back up the stairs, grumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "stupid Connors, keeping me from my beauty sleep."

John, Sarah, and Cameron were quiet for a moment. They were all staring at the space that Derek had occupied. Cameron finally broke the silence.

"Asshole."

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><p><strong>AN:** Yup.


End file.
